Summary

At Pro Tour Kaladesh, some players, including Pierre Dagen, opted to play a U/R Control deck that aimed to take advantage of the power of Dynavolt Tower. The players who piloted the deck had a decent amount of success, but the deck itself has fallen by the wayside of late, with control deck as a whole being considered out of favor. However, it may be time for a control resurgence. Tacitamorte piloted this deck on MtGO on December 19 and achieved some good results.

Unlike the Pierre Dagen U/R Control deck, this deck splashes green for Attune with Aether. This splash also allows the deck to play Radiant Flames and have it reliably deal 3 damage to each creature, rather than the 2 that the more traditional U/R Control deck would do. The change notably tries to cover some of the gaps that U/R Control seemed to have. It also allows for the inclusion of Lumbering Falls, which helps with the green splash, and is also a more reliable creature-land than Wandering Fumarole. The power level of Torrential Gearhulk has never been questioned, but its disappearance from the Standard format has left people questioning if the pieces surrounding it are strong enough to support a dedicated control strategy.

In terms of the deck’s matchups in the format, control decks as a whole, including this one, have a very positive matchup against Temur and Naya Aetherworks, due to the suite of counterspells that match up well against Aetherworks’ impact spells. However, Aetherworks’ move to a less combo-focused build, as well as this deck’s green splash has swung the matchup more in Aetherworks’ favor. However, the matchup is still positive. Where this deck really thrives is against U/W Flash and Mardu Vehicles. Both of those decks rely on creatures to control the board. Against those strategies, Dynavolt Tower, along with the other various removal spells, is dominant. Against B/G Delirium, control strategies can struggle, especially when the deck’s concentration of relevant spells have been decreased due to a third color splash. However, sideboard cards like Summary Dismissal give this deck more game against the attrition strategy of B/G Delirium.

Unlike control decks of the past, this Temur Control deck is rather matchup-dependent. As the Standard format continues to shift, especially after the inclusion of Aether Revolt into the mix, expect control to make a comeback. Blue and red seem to be the strongest colors for control in this format, but a green splash to facilitate some more powerful cards could be the answer this deck has been looking for.

I would highly recommend this deck to anyone who believes that their local metagame will be overrun with Smuggler’s Copter and Thraben Inspector. Here are the changes I would make going forward: